Where do I start?

Well, it's been a very exciting weekend for us to say the least. Not even sure where to start.

I guess with Miss Emma. She did in fact go down the aisle. Well, more like sprinted down the aisle, but she made it down. Once she was holding my hand, I thought we were okay. But then she saw beautiful Auntie Jenni coming down the aisle with Pop-pop, and thought it would be appropriate to meet her half way and give her a huge hug, all the while yelling, "Auntie Nenni!!!" I can laugh now, but at the time I was totally cringing inside. Everyone, of course, thought it was so cute/funny, and thank goodness my sister was such a good sport.

After that, Emma sprinted out the back door to my mother-in-law, who graciously kept her out while she ran around outside. She did peek in once, only to yell, "Mommy, what 'cha doin'?" and then ran back in again to walk down the aisle with me at the very end.

So we made it. Not quite the "slow slow" walk we've been practicing for weeks, or the methodical petal throwing I was sure we had down. But the girl is 2, and she is Emma. So we take what we can get. She looked adorable, which was really her main job!

The rest of the night was a blast. Emma hung out with my sister-in-law and was totally overtired by the time 8:00pm approached, so I kept her busy while my in-laws threw food down their throats and took her to our hotel. Apparently she went down okay for my mom-in-law, but was up around 5am. At least that's what I was told. I wasn't exactly there to greet her when she woke up. Nope...I was at the hospital.

So, I'll save you all the reading to tell you there is no baby. Yet. But I am 2-cm dilated and 70-percent effaced, and have a million signs that this baby is coming SOON. I have lost my mucous plug and my contractions have been on and off for 2 days now. But let's get back to the hospital...

I admit that at the wedding, I may have overdid it a tad. Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to dance and it was my sister's wedding. After all the stress of everything, it felt good to let loose. Still, a couple of times my body was telling me to chill, and sometimes I listened. But sometimes the song was just too good to pass up!

Anyway, I felt fine until around 1 am at the hotel, when I started getting mild contractions. At first, I wasn't sure what they were. With Emma, I had the menstrual cramps and contractions throughout the day, but then my water broke and there was NO mistaking that I was in labor. This was different.

Once they started getting regular and my legs started getting shaky, I knew it was time to call the doctor. My brother's girlfriend pulled Jeff from the after-party in the hotel lobby, and I have to say he immediately went into "go" mode. The doctor wanted me to go to the hospital to get monitored because of my fast delivery with Emma. So off we went, after a very long week. (At least my hair was done, and I had pretty toes!)

Once we got there, my contractions were pretty regular and getting stronger. They checked me, and determined I was 2-cm dilated and about 50-percent effaced, so they kept me for monitoring. For the next few hours, I contracted about every 2 minutes. I really thought this was it. And so did my sister. She was all upset and didn't want to go on her honeymoon. It was so sweet, but after MUCH convincing, she went. She hated it, but she went.

After about 4 hours, they checked me again, and I only effaced a little bit more. Jeff and I were then ordered to walk around for an hour. So there we were: pregnant lady with fancy hair, tired eyes (with fake eyelashes!), and flip flops, escorted by a very handsome man in a tux. We hadn't slept for 24+ hours.

Anyway, I'll speed this up a bit. After our walking, my contractions started to spread out and eventually stopped. I stayed for monitoring for a few more hours, while Jeff went to the hotel, picked up Emma, and got her situated at home. I wanted to go home so bad, but Jeff and the nurse thought it was best for me to get some rest and eat, and be at the hospital just in case the contractions started up again.

Jeff came back to the hospital around 12:30 pm, and we left shortly thereafter. I thought for sure we'd be back that night. But here we are, 2 days later and still no baby. It's fine with me -- we're still a day short of 37 weeks -- but the waiting is driving me a little crazy. I know, I know, I'm not even close to my due date, but when I'm getting contractions every 3 minutes for 45 minutes straight, and then they just stop, it gets annoying. Especially as I try to figure out what to do with Emma and rush to get everything ready around here for our new little one.

After I lost my mucous plug yesterday morning, the doctor and I thought we were on our way. But again, here I am. Sure, it's 5:30am and I feel like making a lasagna and I woke up with menstrual cramps, but at this point, I don't know what to think. Either way, the doctor wants to see me today and check me out. I was supposed to see him on Friday morning before the wedding, but he had a delivery, so I only saw a nurse. Wonder what my internal would have revealed...

I have to give a HUGE thanks to my wonderful family, who were unbelievable this weekend. We are so blessed. So thank you first to my mom- and dad-in-law, who took care of Emma during the entire wedding and after; to my brother and his girlfriend for watching Emma and getting no sleep as we went to the hospital; and to my mom and dad for basically "standing by" the last few days as we wait for our peanut to arrive. And, of course, to my sister and new brother-in-law for being so understanding about my two very unpredictable kids!

So that's we're we are at. Say some prayers for us, and the next post just might be announcing our newest addition. Or it might just be me complaining. We'll just have to wait and see!